


Priceless Birthright

by summendabi



Category: DC - Fandom, DC Animated Universe (Timmverse), DC Comics, DCU, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, Angst, Comedy, Drama, F/M, Teen Titans - Freeform, Young Justice - Freeform, idk teenage hero shit, romance but romance feels weird to say, teenage hero, teenage heroes, traught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27827197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summendabi/pseuds/summendabi
Summary: After a tight covert operation brings the teenage team into a reality check, they must move to reinvent and revise. Their next mission to bring them back into their game? They must take on the teenager with the birthright of a lifetime.
Relationships: Artemis Crock & Dick Grayson & Kaldur'ahm & Kon-El | Conner Kent & M'gann M'orzz & Wally West, Artemis Crock/Dick Grayson, Artemis Crock/Robin (DCU), Kon-El | Conner Kent & M'gann M'orzz, Kon-El | Conner Kent/M'gann M'orzz, Supermartian - Relationship, Traught
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. The One About the Ventilation Shafts (1)

**Author's Note:**

> it’s been awhile since i’ve had the proper muse to write a fanfiction again, but since i’m going to updating and rewriting, and making new chapters for Asphalt Capital, i’ve decided i wanted to do a yj/teen titans fic.

artemis had been speaking for the past few minutes; her words came from the fact that she was growing more and more distraught by the minute and was gaining no reply from robin about it. all she could hear back at all was the sound of typing. his fingers fervently working with the phantom screen, his eyes not even moving away for a second. his focus on this wanted to disturb her rather than annoy her, but every time he was typing away he had a good reason for it. 

〝 _artemis,_ 〞 he finally said, 〝 look, i know you’re— _we_ were all unprepared going into this. but now, we’re going to salvage, and figure out our next step. clear your head, and catch up. 〞 robin started to pan four smaller picture-like images on the screen, he opened his mouth once again to say something, but he realized it wouldn’t be of any use until artemis _actually_ began to calm down. her face started to ease, color growing into its normal tone as opposed to deep reddish-pink it was when she still had to catch her breath.

he glanced to see her, taking her color change as his ability to move on with their next step;〝 okay, these are the main cameras for the building. their security is maxed out, but the minimal camera amount tells me they don’t want _anyone_ barely their _own people_ to see cargo and product moving in and out.〞 robin’s fingers pinched into focus one screen in particular, 〝 i’ve noticed that this hallway is the only one they keep empty at all times, i want to say _nobody in or out,_ but that makes no sense. the cargo is precious, why keep one entire sector empty?〞 

artemis gasped in slight realization, 〝 that’s a cover—they layered a hallway image over, or at least somewhat of a recording. they didn’t account for the fact that, even if there aren’t very many windows, the light still leaks in—it shows clearly that this was taken during the day. 〞 she noticed as the boy took this into account, and watched him smile,〝 precisely. you know what else wasn’t accounted for? their audio. the camera still catches conversations from this location in real time.〞 he took a moment to adjust the circular joystick on the phantom screen to capture some of the conversations occurring.

_‘brother, time is not in your favor. we must act with the cargo soon, if he does not receive it within the allotted time, i am sure our fate will be decided.’_

_‘have you found a way to deal with the children?’_

_‘brother X1SP9 units and sister S6YT8 units are keeping them at bay, they have been separated as we have discussed. but their locations remain unaccounted for. we will relay with information as we receive it.’_

〝 seems as though we’re throwing them a bit off their expectations as they did with us. but there’s not too much use in the location of our teammates department is there?〞 artemis added, while robin shook his head.

there was something a bit off about the conversation, but he wasn’t able to place it, at least not right away. artemis took this into account, but rather than dwell too much into it. they needed to figure out, at least attempt to figure the locations of the others. it was unlikely that the remaining four were able to wholly stick together, but rather, the others were paired into two groups of four as well. but before he could factor into some of the minor details past this, he watched artemis scoot closer,〝 i know you already have it downloaded. pull up the buildings prints and ventilation system plans. 〞 

he laughed quietly,〝 you know me all too well, don’t you?〞 his fingers swiped through his downloads before bringing a side by side of the building print and the ventilation systems plans:〝 okay,〞 he phantom drew an x,〝 we’re here.〞 artemis’ eyes perused over the drawing, the maps, and rest of the shafts. humming a little in thought:〝 from the looks of it, the cargo hold is below the upper floor faux garage. as tight as their security is, you’d think they’d figure out a better spot for their cargo hold.〞 she joked a little, before asking,〝 mind if i draw on your—screen-thingy?〞 

robin moved his wrist as far over to as he could without the position being as awkward as he could get:〝 it looks like—if we could make our turns fully into the right—then take this left, we’ll reach an exiting point. i’d need you to triple check this area first before we decide to exit, and move on. 〞 she looked to him for his thoughts, moving her hand away from the screen, which allowed him to settle back, and assess:〝 okay, lead the way, and i’ll take the perimeter check from there.〞


	2. The One About The Ventilation Shafts (2)

the phantom screen had come into view once more as they reached the exit that artemis had charted for the two of them, realizing that after robin did the perimeter check, they’d have to figure their next step. was it possible they’d find some of their teammates? artemis knew that wasn’t the main focus, at least not as of now. while it might have been on a less tight ship, but, her and robin agreed that the cargo and stopping this shipment had to come first. it’s what kaldur’ham would ask of them.  
robin took a flashlight between his teeth, and used a power wrench to remove the strict bolts holding the vent cover. once the last one was removed, he carefully placed it to his left, and looked to artemis for a moment, giving her a nod before carefully dropping to the floor, he carefully came to his feet. his hand held up, wandering one step to the left, hand pressed against the wall with a tracker—to detect any sound or movement that was unable to notice for precise precaution. he looked to his screen, no discernible movements thus far, only some sound. he made another move back around and moved to the right section of the hall, looking to that screen one more time before his hand gestured to artemis to follow.  
〝 _artemis_ ,〞 he spoke in a whisper, 〝 _we’re clear to move_.〞 he watched as the blonde carefully jumped down the vent, and made a quick step behind him,   
〝 the garage is a floor down. meaning we have two floors between us,〞 he paused for a moment in thought before asking: 〝 what’s with the pit stop?〞  
the blonde took his wrist, pulling the map up before him, his face dawning a sweet red color from this action of hers: 〝 this floor is home to their servers and communications. i figured you might be able to at least relay a message to the team, somehow.〞 she wasn’t technologically deficient, but wasn’t able to work with it as well as robin had been able to do. he could probably work something out, let the team know the two of them are well, or try and include them into the next move. but that all depended on if they were even in a position to be able to reply.  
〝 i might be able to at least give them our whereabouts. i won’t take too much risk.〞 robin’s hesitancy was taken into account, artemis put her hand on his shoulder, and almost gave it a squeeze. she didn’t have anything she felt she could say that she deemed as reassuring, rather, she thought she could at least try and show it. even if it felt a little awkward or out of her normal to attempt to do so. he smiled a little, a part of him thought about turning on his charm, and making some witty or flirtatious comment, but that’d have to wait.   
〝 which room am i looking for, artemis?〞 he finally asked. she took another look at the map, then back up, 〝 end of the hall, and then to our right.〞 her hand left his shoulder, just to be gripped by robin’s hand in return as they stealthily made their way down the hall. there may have been no one they needed to look out for quite yet, but robin deemed the situation a time where they had to be a bit more careful. once they reached the room, he pushed his palm against the door, creaking in a way that caused artemis’ nerve to shoot up a little. before she knew it, robin released her hand when he noticed four men in the room.   
〝 _lead them back_ ,〞 robin sharply whispered to her. she quickly took note to his word, while one of the men attempted to reveal the teen’s location to their superior. robin’s wrist quickly flicked a burst of batarangs in an attempt to incapacitate the man, but two of the men stepped out, moving towards them with guns. artemis hurriedly pulled her bow, setting shot with an special arrow, she aimed towards the door. with smoke, she gathered their attention into the hallway while robin was able to engage in combat with the two men who remained in the room.   
artemis gradually gained distance between her and the men, shooting her basic arrows at them, and quickly maneuvering her position when they began firing bullets in her direction, one shaving a cut along her upper arm, near the shoulder. she didn’t even take a second to wince. her fingers attached onto a bulkier set of arrows, ones that might help her get rid of their firearms. with a swift slide, and quick shot, she was able to disarm the first man, and used her bow to hit his head, rendering him unconscious. the second man turned to her quickly, wanting to make the next move before she might attempt and do the same to him.   
〝 how’s that one song go?〞 robin asked, his face appearing genuinely curious while his hands, and body seemed to move fluidly to action. head ducking amongst their punches, wrists and arms blocking their insistent hits near his body. 〝 _you gotta know when to fold em, know when to walk away_ ,〞 robin began to laugh, sing-songy attitude, sliding underneath one of them, getting a grip on two batarangs, 〝 you guys could learn a thing or two from that, right?〞 his arms crossed as if he was winding up his aim for them. once they were thrown as distractive measures, the boy didn’t waste much time before running up, his fists striking one of the men, and finishing him with an aggressive head-butt. the other man was winded down with different pressure pointed hits.   
robin ran from the room, noticing an artemis who was collecting herself, her hand covering the cut on her shoulder before reentering the room and standing behind robin as he took a seat: 〝 their tech is a past anything i’ve worked with in the batcave,〞 he said, head lurching down a little as he began to type. artemis didn’t give much of a reply, grabbing the seat beside him as she watched him, and the door. her feet pressed flat, remaining prepared if she needed to act whilst she waited for robin to get into the signal. she knew he could. it was all a matter of how long it would take.   
she pulled her hand back for just a moment, it had seemed the bleeding wasn’t much, just enough to qualify for a bandaid when they were able to get back to the cave after this was all over. she cupped it over once more, eyes still moving between the doorway, and then back to robin. it was interesting to watch him, seeing him work on something that as he put in so many words was a bit out of his league. she wondered what it was like, his thought process behind it all.   
〝 you’ve got a staring problem?〞 the boy joked, the blonde huffing, slightly out of annoyance that he’d decide now of all times to make his little remarks and slightly out of embarrassment that he had seemed to catch it. her tone leaned in favor of annoyance as she replied: 〝 can you focus, _please_?〞 he seemed to feed off of this even more, eyes narrowing, 〝 diverting my question?〞 the boy followed this by tsking in a sarcastic fashion, 〝 you’re almost _too_ easy to read.〞 her face now took on the different shade of red, arms crossing in a nearly pouting fashion.   
his eyes bowed back down, fingers and frame going back into focus. artemis’ head tilted, her foot resting on the stand of his chair. his eyes focused to the screen, fingers drawing back for a second: 〝 _robin to team_ — _we are_ second _to_ ground,〞 his nose crinkled, he wanted to have the signal of their location covert but easy to translate. they were two floors from the cargo, “ _we are_ second _to_ ground.” he repeated this on the server twice more before going quiet, in hopes to a response. artemis leaned in, waiting in nervous silence alongside him. her fingers drummed into a fist, squeezing quietly.   
〝 _kf to robin_ ,〞 a voice responded, 〝 _kf to robin—we are_ fourth _to_ ground, _buddy_.〞 the two teens shared a delighted expression to each other. if anyone at all was going to understand the signal that robin was attempting to put underway, kid flash was always there to pick up on it. robin’s fingers anxiously tapped. he wanted to hear from someone else before he felt a little more at ease moving on. this was born out of presumption, they everyone is in pairs as well. he allowed for silence to continue on after kid flash’s report in. artemis’ arms now rested on her knees, waiting, one more voice might cause for some ease on her part too, her foot bouncing silently.   
〝 calm down.〞 he reminded, quietly, her face seemed to change, her eyes blinked slowly for a minute in thought:〝 i’m calm. i’ll just feel better when we hear from someone else on the team,〞 artemis looked at him, seeing him nod reassured her that the two of them were having the same thought process as of now. but with minutes, and minutes passing with continued silence, the two teens knew they had to be moving on before they had anymore trouble with the _brother_ and _sister_ units of the security. artemis finally stood up, wiping the blood from her shoulder onto her pant leg, before advising:   
〝 we should move on. kid replied, meaning whoever else is with _him—is okay._ 〞 she tried to convey a reassuring tone whilst robin clearly had hesitancy towards leaving the server room, he knew that she was right. she squeezed onto his shoulder to add to the additional attempt of reassurance. robin gave her a look, a charming smile that seemed to state that he was ready for their next step, whatever it meant at this point.  
〝 we’ll take the emergency staircase down to the garage,〞 he started, 〝 take that ventilation system down to the cargo hold and _delay_ the shipment.〞 artemis nodded in agreement. his witty humor always had a way of making a dire situation release some tension. he took her hand again in a tight hold before the two of them swiftly left the room, running towards the staircase’s door, and began to make their way to ground zero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part two of the artemis and robin perspective! i hope you guys enjoy! next part will be from kid flash and superboy (possible two parter depending on how i feel) and then miss martian and aqualad! enjoy!


	3. Fourth to Ground, Buddy

〝 we didn’t have enough time to establish a link,〞 superboy stated, his tone easily conveying frustration. his fists balled tightly, hand nearly slamming the wall before kid flash’s hands went out to signal not to: 〝 i know, _but_ you and i are still a team here. meaning most likely that _everyone else_ has paired up too.〞 this seemed to calm conner’s nerves a bit, letting out a quiet, almost unheard sigh. but now, moving forward, the two boys had to figure out what this meant for them. the first thing they needed access to, was a map. if they could figure out their approximate location, they could either move on in means of accessing the cargo hold, and helping one to two possible teammates make sure they successfully complete the mission, or, attempt to do locating of any other teammates.   
〝 fine,〞 the black haired boy’s tone remaining as rough as ever, but clearly less tense than before, 〝 so what is our next move then?〞 his arms crossed, back leaning against the wall while wally took this question into account:〝 we need to find a map. i don’t nearly have the gear robin has to download some from an unsupervised server, but i can scrounge us something well enough to work with. basic layout.〞 he pinched his chin in thought, eyes narrowing, 〝 we’ll need to check rooms, see what they contain, and see if it’s worth using. you game?〞   
superboy gave him a nod, indicating that he was indeed ready to begin their perimeter walkabout to see what they could piece together. superboy’s acute listening skills and x-ray vision made this task much easier. the two boys wandered halls silently, hands pressed to different doors while connor’s vision allowed them to deduce their options, and helped them avoid any unwanted attention from the amount of security in each room. as their options seemed to dwindle, they reached a staircase doorway:   
〝 maybe the next floor will have some better parts for you—and maybe _less_ security,〞 superboy’s tone became a little awkward, which earned him a shrug from kid flash. the speedster opened the doorway, carefully taking a moment to decide whether he should _run_ down, 〝 i wouldn’t.〞 the brunette boy spoke out as if easily being able to read wally’s thoughts; 〝 you’re fast, but, at the rate you run can still make noise. wouldn’t want to back us into a corner. we need to get a map at any cost, alright?〞 the speedster nodded, superboy had a good point, there would be plenty of time for him to get in a light jog.   
the two made their way down the stairs, and carefully made their way onto the next floor. superboy stepped out in front of the redhead, eyes narrowing, his x-ray vision attempting to tap into the different rooms that these doors held. this floor seemed to have lesser security in this section, making superboy a bit more hopeful of their chances than before. his gaze stopped when he came upon a room, only one person seemed to be there—guarding some tech that he couldn’t much pin to specifics, but some that he was sure kid flash could be able to deem worthy to their cause at the moment. the brunette used his head to gesture to the door, then dropped to a sharp, small whisper: 〝 one guy—guarding boxes, from what i could see, looked like some gear you might be able to use. i’ll take care of him, and then we’ll pry those boxes.〞   
wally let out a minor scoff, 〝 should i just let you have all the fun?〞 his tone obviously carried a joking mood to it, earning an eye-roll from superboy. he took that next moment to push open the door, bum rushing the person in the room before they could even react to what was happening, quickly being incapacitated. the brunette pushed the man’s body over before presenting the two boxes to the speedster. he pried the top off one, tossing the wood to the side. it was a set of trackers all varying in size. he dully noted this, seeing that many trackers must mean something big would be occurring with this group soon—but without anything further to go off on, it just had to remain a thought, a theory.   
〝 these guys are bulking up like they’re about to go to war,〞 the redhead suddenly spoke, 〝 i mean, all of this stuff is majorly— _scary,_ 〞 was all he could really think to say, hands digging through odd weapons, gps technology, and more sets of trackers. as shaken as he seemed, he knew that these items would work well to piece from for their necessary device. he began quickly dismantling different things around him to make it work, superboy watching with great interest. his eyes following, trying to understand how wally was absolutely sure each move that being made was correct. it didn’t take more than fifteen minutes for the speedster to make something usable.   
〝 alright, we need to get access to _another_ room where i can hook this up to, something, and get _us_ some directions, so, keep that x-ray vision nice and warmed up for me, supes.〞 he held the small device in his hand, standing up, and pushing the boxes back into their respective spots before they decided to head back into the hall. superboy’s vision took close looks into the three rooms over, taking notice to a server room. two men, one woman, it would be a fairly easy set to take on.   
〝 end of the hall—looks like a server room. they’re guarding something, can’t quite figure what. only three people, the woman is armed, one of the men is too, but one of them is just there as a watcher.〞 superboy noted to the speedster, their steps were light, trying to remain as stealthy as possible. wally pressed his hand to the door, looking at connor. the two nodded to one another before superboy kicked the door open. the boys pressed their backs to the wall as a ricocheting spray of bullets poured into the hallway. the woman and man ran out to charge them, the man quickly butting-heads with superboy, while the woman was testing her pace with kid flash.   
the redhead was quickly dodging bullets, his face engraved with a smile, his movements smooth and swift, moving under, left and right, closer and closer as he could get to simply disarm her. his head whipping back as he watched a bullet fly past as his right hand gripped under the trigger, wrapping around the barrel as well, managing to take it from her grasp. he used his foot as a force point, and kicked in her stomach. the speedster fell back, and before he got to his feet to make sure she was taken care off, he scrambled to attempt to remove the magazine clip before she got up. his fingers managed to click just the right button, tossing it somewhere behind him as he managed to his feet. the woman seemed winded, but paid no mind to it as she immediately made her goal getting back at the redhead.   
〝 you seem ready for round two, babe,〞 his tone was cheeky with a little smirk to follow. her face contorted in slight disgust at this remark: 〝 _an insolent child, you are_ ,〞 the woman’s voice replied. wally moved forward, his movement was sharp, quick—an attempt with a head-butt to make this fight against end a little bit faster. while the woman quickly fell in defeat, the young boy held his forehead for a second, groaning to himself, 〝 it looks so much _easier_ when robin does it, jeez.〞 after coddling himself for a moment, he entered the room, seeing a superboy who was a little unimpressed by the time it took for wally to finish off his part of the fight.  
〝 you look like my dad and mom all at the same time with that face. did i forget to do the dishes while i was kicking some ass back there?〞 he asked, his thumb jeering back to the door. superboy gestured to the mass technology around them; after taking a hint, wally connected his hand-made device to the server, downloading a basic building floor plan, not wanting to risk and push their luck with getting their hands on ventilation plans, he turned on the screen of the device, gesturing for superboy to come over and take a look alongside him.  
〝 according to this, it looks like we’re on the— _fourth_ floor now.〞 kid flash pointed out as he then scrolling down, 〝 we need to get _to—wait,〞_ he noticed something odd about the plans, catching that there was a mislabeling between the first floor. 〝 this is a false garage,〞 superboy noted, 〝 the real place where cargo deliveries and shipments are probably underneath. meaning we got so many floors between us and the _actual_ garage.〞 the other nodded,   
〝 it looks like on the _actual_ fourth floor is a communication room. maybe we can radio out, see if we can get any of the others to reply.〞 


	4. Fourth to Ground, Buddy (2)

〝 got that vision warmed up, supes?〞 the speedster wondered. his arms were crossed, and eyes glancing to each set of doors along the hallway. each were beginning to actually be labeled, numbered. it was expertly labeled between the 400s to additionally remind that they were on the fourth floor, a flaw in design is what wally thought. superboy didn’t pay much attention to it, each stare focused on the contents of the room; people, items, and what level of importance they could be deemed. the huff in his voice was one hint, something wally was beginning to take some note of.  
finally, superboy spoke up a little, 〝 it looks like room, uh, 407 has what were looking for, with, only two people acting as security. unarmed.〞 his head did a tilt towards that direction, 〝 alright muscle man, let’s get them outta there.〞 wally stated in reply, his signature grin taking place before his swift step took him to the door, waiting for superboy before he made his move. once the brunette was beside him, wally had kicked the door open, attempting a similar type of bum rush he had seen superboy do earlier. it proved to be, somewhat successful, taking one of the security men to the ground instantaneously, while the other was beginning to panic, quickly attempting to make contact with someone else.  
but before they could even make a squeak, superboy took them by their hood, and threw them back against the wall. their unconscious body slide quietly to the floor, earning an impressed nod from wally before the two of them took a seat in front of the communication equipment. wally looked at this, then to the screen that was settled before him; 〝 i gotta figure what server i could even use to relay some type of message,〞 his fingers began to type with robin-like fervency. they seemed to be moving quicker then wally could even seem to tell, eyes focused down the entire time. as for superboy, the balls of his feet seemed to rest on the floor, prepared to leap from it were it necessary. his arms were crossed tightly over his chest, his gaze intently watching the door way.   
〝 you almost done, kid?〞 superboy’s ever impatience had to make an appearance sooner or later wally supposed. this made the redhead laugh, 〝 oh yeah, sure, i’m a genius _hacker_ who can take servers in under seven minutes, no, really,〞 his sarcasm didn’t seem to entertain the brunette boy beside him in the very least, a scoff he heard after seemed to confirm this. wally glanced over to him for a quick second, humming to fill in the silence a little. superboy hadn’t been much of a conversationalist, and wally was well aware of that. but sometimes silence didn’t suit the speedster well.  
another few minutes seemed to go by, and in that time superboy was trying to contain himself from asking again. he knew kid flash had to be close with making something happen. he wanted to watch and try to possibly understand what kid flash was doing, but it just never occurred to him. plus, he supposed that, even if he was in wally’s position, would he be able to do it any faster? no probably not.   
〝 alright, this channel is—the only one that, from what i’m able to notice, has not had much if any at all, communication going through,〞 the redhead finally said, bringing superboy to a little more ease. his shoulders slumped down slightly to physically show this ease. kid flash clicked his tongue, 〝 what message shall we send to our _home listeners_?〞 he joked; the question actually sent superboy into thought. what was the best way they could relay their location without it being a complete giveaway in case they would be heard? kid flash’s thumb grazed over the button for a few seconds, then would retract. which almost immediately seemed to cue the one thing that would end up clearing this block from their heads was a familiar voice:  
〝 _robin to team—we are_ second _to_ ground,〞 the phrase seemed to echo, just slightly; 〝 _we are_ second _to_ ground.〞 kid flash’s ears seemed to register the overt enunciation, understanding the signal robin was quickly putting out before he finally gave reply: 〝 _kf to robin_ ,〞 a bit of a smile could probably heard in his tone, 〝 _kf to robin—we are_ fourth _to_ ground, _buddy_.〞 the two boys could feel robin’s enthusiasm across, and felt their own as they knew that another set of teammates was possibly safe and accounted for. oh but, what now? did this mean that the two boys would try and catch up to robin and the other member he was with? or did this mean that they just take the next step to get through the mission? he reached for the button again, wanting to ask, but, there was no way they could ever code it well enough to make it clear what this was moving forward.   
〝 well, we know where _two more_ are now, but now the questions becomes, where are the remaining pair and where do we go?〞 superboy proposed as he began to stand, his arms crossing his chest now a bit more casually. kid flash pinched his chin in thought: 〝 we _could_ wait a few more minutes, see if anybody decides to reply. but if they don’t, we have to move forward, and continue with mission before we can really think of where we would look for any of them.〞 while it was easy to presume that robin was paired with someone, there wasn’t really a way to deduce who he was with if that was the case. while wally’s idea seemed solid enough for them to move forward, connor took the moment to note; 〝 we don’t really know how much time we have on that cargo shipment we came here for in the first place. waiting to see if someone else comes on could take longer than we think, and we don’t have the time to waste.〞  
this was true, while the wally’s make shift device was good for their map, it had no way of being able to do much else.  



	5. The Martian Discovery

her green face seemed to pinch itself in thought, contorted as she looked around. she wanted to come up with something, feeling as though she had to make up for the fact that she was unable to create the telepathic link for the team. it wasn’t like aqualad was blaming her or in anyway implying she had to fix anything. but it was difficult enough to initially gaining their trust, she didn’t want to rupture her place anymore than she had felt like she had. her silence became a light hum to fill in, while aqualad stood without a word. his eyes peering to the floor while his head seemed to run a mile a minute:  
〝 the first thing we should do, is figure out our location, and how we can locate the cargo hold.〞 this seemed to catch the martian girl a little off guard. she had been concerned about the location of her lost teammates, but aqualad seemed as though he wanted to focus on their task ahead. of course, his eyes seemed to catch the look on her face, letting out a breath he quickly took the second to explain to her the reasoning behind his thought process on this.  
〝 our teammates are very capable and intelligent young heroes. i believe if the others are at least paired in the way you and i are, they will likely be not only _alive_ , but making the very same moves we are. i do not want to waste anymore time trying to communicate with them on a server we do not know the security level of.〞 this earned a nod from m’gann, her tension seeming to alleviate slightly, her hum coming to a bit of a stop before she finally asked: 〝 how are we going to figure out our location?〞 she wanted to suggest an attempt at her density shifting skills, but at this point it wasn’t a skill she had mastered, and didn’t want to risk herself and aqualad’s position anymore than where they were at right now.  
〝 i suppose we start by going down, do a thorough search. all else fails, i believe we can make our way to the first floor and get back on track with our original task. but i would hate to go in without some _base_ of a plan,〞 his eyes met her face, awaiting a reply whether of agreement or dispute to giving him another idea: 〝 i’m sure these guys have some maps, tracking gear we could get our hands on. their security being as maxed out as it is of course.〞 this reply gave aqualad some satisfaction. the two teens then made their way to the stairwell and quickly to the floor below their initial location.   
they were prepared for whatever resistance they might find each time they went to search a room. a few of them seemed to hold nothing but dust, while others were minimum security to useless boxes of items: 〝 wait,〞 m’gann paused before they had moved to leave the room, her foot tapping near a body they had incapacitated. she leaned down, nervously moving the body onto their side, grabbing a small communicative device; 〝 we need a way to get intel and keep up with the shipment that we’re here for, right? 〞 she carefully took it, clipping it carefully to her skirt. unconventional in her methods, sure, but it was something that hadn’t occurred to aqualad if he was being honest.   
he gave her an approved nod before they began to move on. the device was the only noise between the two for the most part; it relayed them with locations they needed to be careful of, hearing how heavily it would be guarded, as well as timely updates upon when they would set out for the first shipment and deliveries. they handled every single thing they could with the upmost safety and efficiency from what the two teenagers were gathering. but nothing could ever go perfectly, there would be a fault in the line, a crack in the crease that aqualad was so desperately hoping he would be able to catch if he was ever so lucky.   
maybe it wasn’t too far off when he finally pulled his head out of the clouds and realized that as he was opening the door to the next floor they were going to rummage through was, the fourth floor. _again_. he pulled his hand back for a second, looking to m’gann. she almost wanted to laugh, but instead was filled with the same confusion that aqualad seemed to have: 〝 there are, _two_ fourth floors?〞 she asked. they looked at each other for a second, while m’gann quickly took flight to the floor prior and looked at its labelling, relaying back to aqualad with a confirmation to this. there was indeed two fourth floors, which meant or could mean a number of things. one of them being a mislabeling of the floors in order to conflict intruders, second could have been an unintentional mislabeling but of course kaldur and m’gann already figured someone would have come to fix it. this gave them the ability to quickly rise to this conclusion:  
〝 there is another floor,〞 m’gann spoke out, 〝 they purposely mislabeled to throw people off of the fact their cargo-hold is the _actual_ first floor. underground.〞 


	6. Honey, I’m Gonna Make It Out Alive (1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one may be a bit short, but i’m going to be doing multiple parts to this one room fight!

with no other sign than his intuition, robin threw his hand up, no other words as a warning but these〝 _we’re getting close; we need to move as quiet as possible_.〞 he looked back to her for a moment, noticing her eyes roll a little, then gave a nod in approval. artemis took a second to figure that if the most conversational person she had ever met knew that they needed to be quiet, it wasn’t for nothing.   
he took a moment to pause, gesturing artemis to come sit beside him: he opened the map upon the phantom screen, trying to match where they were approximately. her eyes swiftly took it in, drawing her finger along his screen; her mouth squeaked a whisper, 〝 _about here_.〞 he gave a nod to this, allowing her to mark it with an x. this meant they had already entered the _actual_ first floor; what robin was now referring to as, ground zero.   
they were nearing the cargo hold, the whole reason they had even came in the first place, back into focus, was less than ten feet away. but they hadn’t taken much time to come up with a plan into what they were going to do. the two of them were beginning to realize this now more than ever; but neither of their faces seemed to convey it much, rather, artemis took a second to carefully push past robin, crawling towards the ventilation opening, fingers pressed against one of the slits: 〝 _do you trust me_?〞 this whispered sentence seem to catch robin off guard. more likely than not did he usually ever hear himself say those words, and to have someone else say them was off putting; yet with artemis asking, he couldn’t help but find himself grinning with curiosity.   
he crawled closer to her, watching her head turn just slightly to look at him before her mouth opened to speak in nearly a whisper, 〝 _i need you to unscrew the vent cover._ 〞 her fingers indicated that there were only two screws instead of four, allowing him to quickly remove them, then place the cover to his side, his fingers fiddling with the screws while artemis began to survey the room quickly; her eyes seemingly tracking and tracing every bit of it before she finally began to speak upon a possible plan.   
artemis took note, counting more than twenty people in the room. she had said to robin something about how, with this many people, they clearly didn’t want anyone to see what was in these crates. a good amount of these people were security alone, only five were the ones stocking the cargo, with five drivers to follow. most were guarding any entrance or exit; even the doors to the communication room. most of them were armed, except for a few men who were bulked enough not to need an weapons as it were. her face pinched in thought; if they needed a failsafe, they could make sure to place tracking gear in the truck to follow up. but it was too early to be thinking of what happens when things go wrong.   
〝 _we need to take out the stockers_ , 〞 when she spoke, it seemed to click into robin’s brain like some missing puzzle piece. they had to do it quick and careful, 〝 _there is less security near the second and third trucks_ ,〞 her tone seemed to pause as she gathered another look at each truck, and accounted for each person; 〝 _we can work from the middle, outwards_.〞 robin gave nod to this. it would be the best way to start in minimizing the number of people they had to take on, but then what would be next? the five in the communications room were heavily guarded, but it wasn’t like there wasn’t a vent they could access, right?   



	7. Honey, I’m Gonna Make It Out Alive (2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part 2 of 4, next up will be miss martian & aqualad; then i plan to do a christmas special before i lead into the big mission finish, then get us kicked into the plot!

〝 _alright supes_ ,〞 kid flash crossed his arms, leaning his back against the wall looking towards the brunette, 〝 _what does our competition look like?_ 〞 superboy’s eyes narrowed, gaining view of the floor above the cargo hold. he saw minimal security, which seemed off to him considering the fact that on every other floor it seemed each room was covered by at least two people, making about sixteen guards as a whole on every floor. but this room only had about four people in total. it could have been some ploy to lead them into that false sense of security before it turned out more people were around than he could gather. with hesitance, superboy relayed in a whisper:   
〝 _four men, all of them are armed_ ,〞 kid flash could sense the reluctance in superboy’s tone, he leaned a bit towards him, silently pressing him to say what his issue was: 〝 _with this floor being over the hold itself, i’d think their security would be more—not less._ 〞 kid flash nodded in understanding, he just let his head tilt to the side in thought. there was that possibility that these guys were just waiting to bring out the calvary, and these two couldn’t really afford to spend anymore time not being down in the hold. at this point, kid had decided for the two of them that they needed to find another way to get down there.  
〝 _we need to get back to the second floor, get in the vents and get down there_ ,〞 it came out more random than the speedster had intended, but it gained the approval of the brunette beside him as they quickly trailed back up to the second floor, carefully opening the door, and quietly taking their steps to the ventilation opening near a janitorial closet. superboy’s fingers forced between the slit and pushed it down with a creaking squeak of metal. superboy hoisted himself inside, letting his arm down in offering to help the redhead up inside. once hoisted, the brunette took lead, allowing his x-ray vision to take the directive suit. he surveyed the area, crawling in different directions maneuvering through the second floor down to the first; a few slips of the hand as tensions were silently growing as they quietly crawled above the first floor. the super’s eyes noticed as the security seemed to grow as they passed, a fear he was happy to avoid, his gut feeling be all the most true.  
〝 _we’re close. we’re need to take this next right, and we’ll be sliding nearly down, and then we’ll end up near a communication room; we’ll just have to figure out our—next step._ 〞 these words set the speedster at more ease than he expected from himself. finally, they’d be able to stop everything they came here for. 


	8. Honey, I’m Gonna Make It Out Alive (3)

〝 _do you think they’re going to be here?_ 〞 m’gann asked telepathically, looking over towards aqualad. his unsure expression caused her hope to sink a little. they had to be nearby, it wasn’t like each of them was resourceful. whilst aqualad more often would prioritize his teammates before a mission, he knew the dexterity of this mission and what it would mean if they came back and relayed a failure to the league.   
m’gann hummed softly, fingers clicking the radio communicator clipped to her skirt off. aqualad gave a nod, his hands carefully opened the door; it was the first floor. four men, each armed. but without hesitation he moved swift with the green martian right behind him. he quickly produced his water-like blades, shielding himself from the hail-fire he should have been better prepared for whilst m’gann worked quickly to take two at a time; her eyes glowing a bright green as she activated her telekinetic abilities, levitating two of the men into the air, and forcibly allowing them to hit the ground. while it seemed to be effective it wasn’t nearly as effective as she had liked it to be; one of the men wasn’t incapacitated, and reached for his firearm, discharging at random.   
she quickly allowed her arms to fly out, her telepathy effectively changing the direction of each bullet, except one, that seemed to knick just a top her shoulder. out of slight frustration, her hand flew and caused the man to fly into the wall. 〝 _i think i got him this time, you doing alright aqualad?_ 〞 swiftly, the martian flew, in search of him; the young atlantean was swiping his blades, shielding bullets, his head thrown back as he watched a bullet ricochet off his blade. he took a running start, sliding under swiftly, his blade knocking the bullet from one of the men’s hands, listening to it clatter, he kicked him back, listening to his head hit a column before falling to the ground before him. he quickly turned to face the second man to see he was already down with the very help of miss martian.   
she flashed a sweetly little smile, which seemingly relieved aqualad. he gave her a nod as he then started to speak, about how they needed to get to the hold fast before any others arrive. the small amount of men made him uneasy: 〝 we must move fast, and find our friends. 〞

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part 3 of 4! pls lets pretend i posted this on the 22nd like i planned. again, sorry for the short snippet chapters but i promise i have some cool stuff in store! dec 25th — holiday special & then the shit to kick the plot off!


	9. The Returned League

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I am here to deliver. No holiday specials, sorry. Now my plans for action packed will deliver, just, not in this chapter, I’m  
> going to move into main plot. Anyway, hope you enjoy and sorry for the delay!

three months had passed prior to the brother blood mission, and in that span of time it was in batman’s best interest that the young justice league be temporarily suspended. his disappointment came from a number of points, such as them not having a real set plan before their separation to keep them on track, allowing themselves to get separated, and not gathering enough information for the entire reason they had been sent. aqualad, of course, bore the burden as leader, but it hit robin the hardest of the group. it was that way each time batman came bearing frustration or unhappiness with a failure from the young team. he wondered often times if it was batman’s intentions to make him feel the worst.   
it seemed in addition to their suspension the teenagers were going to be additionally overseen by black canary. she was customarily there for combat training and testing, but, now these lessons would be more frequent to prepare them for when batman and the league would deem them more than able to rejoin their work on official missions. 

〝 _bird babe alert_.〞 wally joked in a whisper, leaning towards the boy wonder. most times robin would indulge on the speedster’s attempt at humor, robin was too busy soaking in on batman’s displeasure towards the team. artemis shot a quick glance to wally, which immediately caused him to stand straight and look away and ahead. she then looked to robin. she bumped his shoulder a little with her arm. it was in attempted reassurance, but it came off a little awkwardly. he knew what she was trying to do, and it was a nice thought.   
those three months were filled with what seemed to be not much rest in between all of the training except to sleep for a span of six or seven hours each night. they’d wake around six in the morning, eat breakfast at six-thirty, suit up, and begin combat work. black canary would drill them on different hand to hand work, and adapt some lessons to each specific teammate to perfect their abilities if she could. after combat, she would either do cardio or aerobic work fo work on strength and speed. they’d get a thirty minute break for lunch, and then it was taking what they had learned for that day to be finished. after that it was left to their own devices; except they were all too tired to do much anything else.   
  
〝 don’t you think you’re being too hard on them, bruce?〞 dinah asked thoughtfully, watching as artemis and robin went toe-to-toe in the combat room. her eyes analyzing each move as she awaited a response from the crusader beside her. 

〝 no. they need to be disciplined in a way that is going to be beneficial for them going back in. i know what i’m doing.〞 he replied, a bit flatly. 

〝 never said you didn’t.〞 dinah watched the way robin came upon artemis with a quick step, his ankle swiftly swiped her ankle, listening to her finally thud. he immediately offered his hand, pulling her up from the floor, and then gave her a smile. with a gentle, ‘nice job,’ to follow. 

〝 end of this month, i think they’ll be ready to go back.〞 bruce said,〝 one more week should be enough time to finish. i’ve got something for them.〞 dinah smiled in reply, an approving nod to follow as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

when that week finally came to its end, batman gathered the teenagers in for their much awaited brief. the real one that was going to allow them to show what they learned, and that they were ready to get back into the game. the screen showed a file opening, and a few photographs, and a small bullet list of facts batman had compiled for the team.  
he zoomed in on a photo; it was decent in quality, enough to grasp the very appearance of their subject. 

〝 this is your next mission.〞 batman stated, 〝 she entered the dimension at the beginning of the week. we’ve been keeping a close eye on her.〞 

〝 dimension?〞

〝 yes. we’ve concluded that she is likely from the people of azarath, judging by her appearance.〞  
  
〝 what does her appearance conclude?〞

〝 the people of azarath are a peaceful society that the follows pacifist beliefs, many are monks.〞

〝 then why would she be here?〞

〝 there have been reports of her approaching peoples, she is said to be enlisting or seeking help.〞

artemis paused, finally speaking up, 〝 wait, if she needs help, why hasn’t the league tried to talk to her?〞

〝 we’ve tried. she says that, one from the league has turned her away. but i don’t recall any of us even speaking to her.〞 he added. 

〝 weird.〞

〝 your mission is to see what her intentions are, report your determinations to us.〞 

superboy scoffed. 〝 this is _it?_ this was the big mission? you suspended us for _three months!_ 〞 his frustration started to turn into harsher anger.〝 you’re treating us like kids.〞

〝 _supes_ ,〞 the speedster whispered, 〝 _you gotta chill out_.〞 

〝 i need to _chill out_? this is stupid, they’re sending us on some baby mission to do what they always do; _to keep us out of the way_.〞 the brunette said with a gruff. 

batman’s eyes narrowed, watching as the teen kryptonian stormed off, not uttering a word on his behavior, but simply continued in describing the mission. the remaining teenagers nodded, listening carefully. once they broke off from the briefing, miss martian quickly moved to take off before being stopped by aqualad. 

〝 he is in no place to have discussion, megan. give him some space before you attempt to talk to him. i understand where his anger is coming from; but this is our chance to prove that we can handle our missions.〞 his face softened as he spoke to her. she nodded, knowing very well that he was right. 

aqualad then moved to command to his teammates,〝 we’ll move to start attempted locating at six hundred hours. get your rest, get your energy. we need it. 〞 he said, earning affirmed nods from each of them.   
  
they all separated, heading to rest to start their next mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now back to our regularly scheduled programing, January 23rd will be the next update, and we will go into the mission! (Finally!)


	10. Coffee Covert (1)

〝 six am, for a covert op?〞 artemis asked, adjusting her sitting in the outdoor metallic chair. her head tilted a bit tiredly to the side, pushing up the sunglasses from the edge of her nose. she looked over to the window pane, seeing robin stand in line for coffee for a moment longer. kaldur nodded in reply, before gesturing out towards the street.  
〝 reports indicated that she is most often found in places of large crowds. she has also been in many a city that has a well-known public hero, or heroes. her sitings thus far ranged from metropolis to gotham.〞 the boy replied, pulling his phone out to review the information. he started showing her more news reports and even videos online. one of her shaking a person, in search of a batman. then disappearing into the city with not another trace. artemis furrowed her brows, confused.  
〝 this must be before she tried to approach the league. because remember batman said that she talked to someone in the league and was turned away.〞 she noted, whilst kaldur considered this.   
〝 that is a good point, but her travels make incredible time. to be reported within metropolis, fawcett city, and then star city in the same day?〞 kaldur pondered. robin appeared at the perfect timing as usual. he pressed artemis’ mocha over to the blonde girl, then handing her back a five dollar bill. then carefully slid a chai latte toward kaldur.   
〝 teleportation abilities. if she is able to travel in between dimensions, it only makes sense she can travel to cities with no issue.〞 robin added, taking his seat beside artemis. the blonde girl pushed the five dollar bill into the pocket of her jacket, then taking a sip of her coffee. she smiled a little, she supposed covert mission cover coffee wasn’t all too bad in part of her disguise. the brunette boy hummed thoughtfully, thinking of his next additional reply. he had been putting his own thought on this girl and her whereabouts.   
  
〝 i’m gonna guess the reason she feels she was turned away, was because she’s a kid. i mean looking at those pictures—she’s no older than any of us. best option now, is to find heroes _our_ age, to help. because who better to believe her? but she’d have to know that our team even exists at this point. we were out of the public eye for much longer than was good for us.〞 robin leaned his elbows on the table, holding his coffee. his other hand drummed lightly onto the metallic table. artemis and kaldur took a minute to take in robin’s reply. the three of them were still quite confused as to why the league would even turn her away. batman was still unsure who it was she supposedly talked to. kaldur would believe that. their lapse in time could be damaging to their reputation right now. if this girl entered the dimension beginning of the week, how could she even have heard of them? the difficulties within this mission’s finer details were becoming more and more clear than they could have thought.   
the three of them sat, taking more and more time to go over the files while they sat in that empty outdoor patio space of that starbucks. the latter team was on stakeout on a nearby three story building. kid flash was sitting bored beside the martian girl. he had his chin his hand, eyes blinking rapidly to try and keep himself awake. m’gann was highly alert, scanning through small amounts of people as they passed through, but nothing quite distinct enough to cause for concern or alert. superboy tapped his foot impatiently.   
〝 this is a waste of time, why did we come so early?〞 the brunette snipped.   
〝 it’s a friday morning, people are shuffling in to go to work, get their breakfasts, and you never know who might be in those crowds. have a little faith superboy.〞 m’gann said with a positive tone of voice.   
the kryptonian remained quiet after this, brooding silently while he crossed his arms over his chest. she always had such a sweetly little attitude over everything, he didn’t understand it too well.   
  
〝 you know what supes, you sound like you need to get the legs moving.〞 the speedster stood up, stretches his arms out, then did a squat or two before shooting a finger gun, 〝 why don’t we do some ground patrol, and see if we find something good?〞   
  
〝 and our link is already established. go and _get your legs-a-moving_!〞 she smiled brightly. wally gave her a swift kiss on the cheek before running down the side of the building, and watched as superboy quickly followed. superboy wanted to comment on the fact that he kissed her cheek, but remained quiet. he walked beside the speedster.  
〝 _hey meg, we’re gonna check out the two blocks between newtown and walsh. we’ll keep you updated._ 〞 kid flash stated telepathically, then jokingly hooked arms with superboy,〝 ready, _honey_?〞 superboy took his arm away with a gruff before they began to walk along the streets. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im posting a bit early bc this is a short 2-parter! posting second tomorrow!


	11. Coffee Covert (2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy, i’ll rejoin my regular schedule where i post every 3 days.

time rolled into nine in the morning, groups turned into crowds, and traffic began to attract the exact specifications they were looking for. now it was all a matter of whether or not this was the day they’d be able to locate the girl. it wasn’t like she wouldn’t stick out in the crowd with the custom robes she seemed to dawn. they’d just to have to hope that today would be their lucky day.   
the three at the coffee shop remained alert while taking on a casual appearance. robin cracked jokes and poured on his usual wit, almost as if he did it to hear artemis’ laugh. sometimes it could be small and stifled, but from other things he said, she appeared to also have a shoulder-heavy laugh. it was adorable. aqualad, whose eyes were constantly scanning the crowd and trying to remain focused, let out a small chuckle or two. robin had that way about him, he could make a mission such as this, bearable.   
the other three remained vigilant; miss martian was posted in the skies, watching, taking note and checking in with the speedster and kryptonian who were walking the different streets, then posted themselves into a building to watch from a perspective one might miss. three hours trying to stake to find this girl was growing tired. it wasn’t like they didn’t have more possible opportunities to search for her, but whether the teenagers wanted to admit it to themselves or not; they wanted to find her hastily, to prove to the rest of the league that they could do what they were meant to do.   
  
〝 don’t you think we should join the other three id we’re going stay on ground?〞 superboy wondered. 

〝 i didn’t bring spare clothes, and, neither did you. we’re best just doing it this way, supes.〞 kid flash replied, not that this really satisfied the kryptonian. he was growing impatient, needing some sort of action to satisfy him. wally was growing impatient too, but he was somehow doing better at internalizing it. maybe it was because at least this was a real mission and wasn’t spending another day training or practicing for one. still, he was antsy for some action too. superboy’s eyes peeled through the crowds, trying to find any distinction. something that could finally kick this off the ground.   
robin leaned back a little, eyes started to move towards the street, whilst artemis went back inside to get the three another set of drinks. he and kaldur remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes or so. artemis stood at the counter, patiently awaiting their drinks. her eyes drifted outside, then back in. she took her phone out, and started to rifle through online articles. there wasn’t much to do except wait, but she could do some more digging in that time. it most certainly didn’t hurt.   
  
〝 _this world, is in grave danger_.〞 a calm voice suddenly communicated, basically entering into miss martian’s link between her and the team. it caught the six teenagers off guard;〝 _trigon is coming_.〞   
robin and aqualad shot up from their seats, artemis quickly ditched the coffee shop, and joined them.   
  
〝 _start looking team, let’s go_.〞 aqualad’s telepathic voice echoed. the ground three dispersed into the mess of people, pushing, shoving, and moving about to see if they could find the cloaked girl. the others began to join the chase. superboy’s eyes scanning the crowd while kid flash started to catch up to the other three. m’gann flew a little closer to ground. m’gann tried to communicate with the voice again. she tried asking for where she was, tried to let the voice know they wanted to help. but as suddenly as it came, was as suddenly as it was gone. 

〝 _she’s not answering me_.〞 m’gann said, frustrated. the other teens continued to pilfer through the crowds of people, ripping past them fervently. robin looked intently for dark blue clothing, nearly exciting himself each time he saw a similar shade; only to be disappointed. after thirty minutes, the teenagers retreated back to their base to regroup and move into discussion of what their next move is to be.


End file.
